Alongside us, in an identical Red Bull-liveried Renault, is formula one legend David Coulthard. And I mean right alongside us. We're almost touching as we rocket down Albert Park's main straight.

Turn one is approaching rapidly, not surprisingly given we're doing 200km/h, and Kelly waits until Coulthard's brake lights come on before he hammers the Megane's middle pedal and scythes past the 13-time grand prix winner.

Neither driver is fazed by the rain that has lashed the Melbourne circuit and left it as slippery as an ice rink.

Coulthard stays pinned to Kelly's rear bumper as we slip and slide around the track. Behind the Scottish ace is Australia's next F1 star, Daniel Ricciardo, who's happy to sit back and watch the positions change at the front.

The fourth and final Renault is driven by freestyle motocross megastar Robbie Maddison; the man that has made headlines around the world for his world record two-wheel leaps.

Rick Kelly goes head to head with former F1 ace David Coulthard in Red Bull-badged renault RS250s.

Welcome to the Red Bull Race Off, a support event for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. The concept is simple, take four identical cars and four Red Bull sponsored drivers and let them loose in a five-lap race.

Despite the cut and thrust between Coulthard and Kelly this isn't actually the race, it's only practice. I'm one of four lucky individuals invited to have a ride alongside the quartet of drivers to see how they work.

What makes this exchange so impressive, though, is that it is only the first lap either of these drivers has taken in Renault. Only minutes earlier Kelly jumped into the Megane for the first time in his life.

"I'm more nervous about this than the V8 Supercars," Kelly says as he climbs aboard. "I've never raced a front-wheel drive car before."

Watching Kelly going through a mental checklist to get himself prepared is a fascinating insight into what makes a racing car driver better than a normal driver. His first priority is to get comfortable, so he has the Renault mechanic adjust the five-point racing harness and fiddles with the steering column.

He gets a lesson in how to switch off the stability control before asking about how long the brakes should last and what tyre pressures are being used. And that's it, Kelly has all the information he needs to hit the track and go flat-out. We trundle up pitlane, wait for the go-ahead and then go.

Ignoring the wet track, Kelly nails the throttle as he exits the pits and the front tyres scramble for grip. As we get to the first corner he slams on the brake pedal to test the limits of the car and try and generate some heat in the brakes and tyres.

When we get to the third turn the back of the car gets loose but Kelly's instincts kick in immediately and he catches the slide with ease. He does it so easily he's got time to look in the rear-vision mirror to see Maddison get caught out, too, and go spinning into the gravel.

By the time we're through turn five Kelly is already confident in the car's abilities and is starting to push. He's so confident that when the back end steps out at 130km/h as he turns into the fast sweeping turn off the back straight he pulls it back on course without fuss.

The momentary loss of momentum is enough for Coulthard to get a run alongside and dive underneath going into the sharp left-hander at the end of the next straight.

Kelly immediately latches onto his rear bumper, so close I thought we were going to swap paint, but the pair is too professional to bump each other.

Kelly hangs on and slipstreams Coulthard down the straight before pulling alongside, which is where this story began. Side-by-side at more than 200km/h in cars they'd never sat in until five minutes ago.

The pair swaps spots a few more times on the next lap but then the fun is over, almost as soon as it began. It's time for the drivers to ditch their passengers and go for some proper fast times.

It may have been fun and games for Kelly, Coulthard, Ricciardo and Maddison but it gave me a whole new perspective on motor racing. Literally.